MAY

To talk about possibility (usually a She may be at home.

higher one) and possible situations in
If you park your car here the police may
1. the present or the future.
tow it away.
We think that something is true but we
are not sure.
To talk about specific possibilities, we There may be life on Mars. (Perhaps
use may. The meaning is similar to there is life on Mars.)
“Perhaps” or “Maybe”.
2.
+
In this case we can also use might and
could, BUT not can.
In the meaning of “Wish” and to May you both be very happy.
express hope.
May you be blessed with a lot more
3. candles to blow out.

May God bless you.

More formal and less sure way of
asking for permission.
4.
5. To give permission.
To give permission in written notices
6.
or formal announcements.
To express offers (suggestions) and
7. requests in a more formal and less sure
way.
To talk about a possible completed
action by a time in the future we use
the structure may + have + past
8. participle.
+
In this case we can also use might +
have + past participle.
9. In informal speech to make the
speculation stronger we can add
May I interrupt you?
May I come in?
May I sit here?
May I ask you the court for an
adjournment?
You may go home now, Martin.
Luggage may be left here.
May I help you?
May I have the bill, please?
May I have some water, please?
Call me next Tuesday; I may have
finished the project by then.
Call me next Tuesday; I might have
finished the project by then.
Let’s call the hospital. There may well
be some news now.
1
 “Well”.
To talk about something that we
believe possibly or probably happened
in the past, we use may (not) + have +
past participle. We only speculate
about past actions, we are not sure
10. about them.
+
In this case we can also use might (not) We’d better hurry – the hotel might have
+ have + past participle.
To express formal prohibition by an
11. external authority. (“Mustn’t” may
appear strong in these situations).
We commonly use “May” in academic
12. and scientific English.
To talk about possibility (usually a
higher one) and possible situations in
the present or the future.
We think that something is true but we
are not sure.
To talk about specific possibilities, we
use may. The meaning is similar to
“perhaps” or “maybe”.
+
In this case we can also use might and
could, BUT not can.
In the meaning of “wish” and to
express hope.
We’d better hurry – the hotel may have
given our room away by now.
Students applying for this course may
have studied maths at degree level.
We didn’t interrupt because they may
well have been having a serious
conversation.
given our room away by now.
Hotel guests may not use the pool after
11 p.m.
Over-prescribing of antibiotics may lead
to the rapid development of resistant
strains.
She may be at home.
If you park your car here the police
may tow it away.
There may be life on Mars. (Perhaps
there is life on Mars.)
May you both be very happy.
May you be blessed with a lot more
candles to blow out.
May God bless you.
2
More formal and less sure way of
asking for permission.
To give permission.
To give permission in written notices
or formal announcements.
More formal and less sure way of
asking for offers (suggestions) and
requests.
To talk about a possible completed
action by a time in the future we use
the structure may + have + past
participle.
+
In this case we can also use might +
have + past participle.
In informal speech we can make the
speculation stronger by adding well.
To talk about something that we
believe possibly or probably happened
in the past, we use may (not) + have +
past participle. We only speculate
about past actions, we are not sure
about them.
+ conversation.
In this case we can also use might (not) We’d better hurry – the hotel might
+ have + past participle.
May I interrupt you?
May I come in?
May I sit here?
May I ask you the court for an
adjournment?
You may go home now, Martin.
Luggage may be left here.
May I help you?
May I have the bill, please?
May I have some water, please?
Call me next Tuesday; I may have
finished the project by then.
Call me next Tuesday; I might have
finished the project by then.
Let’s call the hospital. There may
well be some news now.
We’d better hurry – the hotel may
have given our room away by now.
Students applying for this course
may have studied maths at degree
level.
We didn’t interrupt because they may
well have been having a serious
have given our room away by now.
3
To express formal prohibition by an
external authority. (Mustn’t may
appear strong in these situations).
We commonly use may in academic
and scientific English.
Hotel guests may not use the pool
after 11 p.m.
Over-prescribing of antibiotics may
lead to the rapid development of
resistant strains.